You’ve stretched yourself and worked hard doing all that was necessary, and finally, you’ve got the promotion that you had longed for. But there’s one thing stopping you from enjoying the experience of your new role, and that is, you’ve been handed a poison chalice. Namely, you have been promoted to what seems an impossible job.
Having secured a promotion, it can be challenging to get to grips with your new role, but when you also have to contend with the impossible, it can also be stressful. If it is not managed, this can affect your self-confidence, your decision making, and your performance. Not managing the stress could also lead to burnout.
Take stock of the situation
Assess the situation and identify what specifically the challenge is. Is it a lack of resources? Is it a competence issue and there are areas you need to bring yourself up to speed on? Is it unrealistic expectations? Is it too heavy a workload? Or is it something else?
Pinpoint what the issue is and then work out what is needed to address it. There may be things that are within your control and area of responsibility, and there may be things that are not. For things within your control, what do you need, and who can help you? For those things outside of your control, who is the best person to assist you?
Eliminate the unnecessary
Are there things being done that are not necessary? Just because something has always been done the way it has; it does not necessarily mean that it is efficient or that it is effective. Identify those things that are not necessary that can be stopped.
Get your teams involved in this. Many years ago, when I was leading a team, increases in workloads and insufficient resources were putting a lot of pressure on everyone. I introduced unnecessary boards where staff could list processes or tasks that they were doing as they went about their jobs, that they thought were unnecessary.
Some great initiatives came out as a result of this, and it also empowered the team.
Are you delegating?
Being new to the role, you may be trying to do everything yourself. Delegating will free up your time to focus on more strategic tasks and those of high priority. As well as easing some of your heavy load, reducing the pressure and stress that is placed on you. This will not only free up physical capacity but mental capacity as well. It will help with your decision making and productivity because you will be able to think more clearly and rationally.
Delegating to team members provides opportunities for them to develop their skills and gain experience. This not only helps them with their development, but it also helps to position themselves for promotion.
What aspects of your work can be delegated? Is there anyone that you can delegate certain tasks to, which will also help them with their development?
Be solution focused
If you identify that extra resources are needed, put together a business case that states what you need. Gather as much evidence as possible to support your business case. Carron had been tasked with setting up a new centralised unit and had expressed concerns that the unit would not have sufficient staffing levels. However, extra staff resources were not given.
Following the set-up of the unit to great acclaim across the region, performance started to drop as the weeks turned to months. It got to the stage where clients were complaining because they were not getting things dealt with in sufficient time.
Carron put together a solid business case. She provided lots of evidence to show that with the volume of work and the length of time it took to process things, the unit was severely under resourced. Providing the relevant data this way resulted in Carron being given the go ahead to recruit extra staff.
Get a coach
When we are in the midst of a challenging situation, it can be difficult to see the solutions and find a way out. Utilising the services of an executive coach provides a safe space for you to talk through your situation. They can work with you to identify solutions and the action that needs to be taken.
Discussing your situation with someone impartial can help to take the weight off your shoulders as the coach helps you to explore what your options are and what you can do differently. A coach can challenge you so that you see different perspectives and don’t limit your thinking.
If your organisation does not have a pool of executive coaches, the Diverse Executive Coach Directory provides a list of coaches with a wealth of experience. They have coached leaders to deal with similar challenges to what you are experiencing and to find solutions.
If it feels like you have been handed a poison chalice and been promoted to an impossible job, don’t suffer in silence. Speak to someone about it. Put into practice what has been suggested above. And if the pressure of the job is taking its toll on you and there is no scope to improve things, ask yourself do you really want to work in that environment?
Carol Stewart
Carol Stewart is a psychologically informed Executive, Career, and Leadership Coach. The founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact. She specialises in introverted women who are senior leaders and those from underrepresented groups.
